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- The UK Home Office started door-to-door raids, taking people to detention centres to await deportation.
- On Monday, a man of African origin was paid R70 000 to voluntarily take up the Rwanda scheme.
- Many others are due to be rounded up and sent to Rwanda for likely resettlement there.
The United Kingdom started detaining undocumented immigrants who are due to be sent to Rwanda, as it ramps up its ambitious plan to deport at least 5 700 people to east Africa this year.
The UK Home Office released a video on Wednesday showing immigration officials visiting homes to handcuff asylum seekers and take them into remand custody.
In a statement, the Home Office said more raids would be conducted in the coming weeks.
"Operational teams have been working at pace to safely and swiftly detain individuals in scope for relocation to Rwanda, with more activity due to be carried out in the coming weeks," the Home Office said.
The first flight, according to the UK government, should be between nine and 11 weeks from now.
The Conservative government signed the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 last month to "deter migrants from making perilous journeys across the channel [English Channel] by showing clearly that, if you come here illegally, you cannot stay."
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Home Secretary James Cleverly said the Rwanda deal was a major step in stopping the boats.
"Our Rwanda Partnership is a pioneering response to the global challenge of illegal migration, and we have worked tirelessly to introduce new, robust legislation to deliver it.
"This is a complex piece of work, but we remain absolutely committed to operationalising the policy, to stop the boats, and break the business model of people-smuggling gangs," he said.
On Wednesday, a total of 711 people were brought ashore in the UK after trying to cross from France on small boats.
The Home Office's director of enforcement, Eddy Montgomery, said surprise would be part of the operation.
He said:
Last week, the government revealed that it had increased custody capacity to almost 2 200 spaces, trained 200 new caseworkers to handle claims promptly, and prepared 500 highly trained escorts.
Commercial charters, although not named, are said to have been booked and there's a dedicated airport for the deportations.
The British media reported that there was an unnamed migrant who, voluntarily, was flown to Rwanda on Monday.
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He was not part of the forced deportation scheme.
For his stay in Rwanda, the government gave him R70 000.
It was reported that the man of African origin, after his bid to stay was turned down last year, opted for the Rwanda deal, effectively becoming the first person the UK has relocated to a third country.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
